Deranged Records

The Number Ones 'The Number Ones'

Deranged Records

The Number Ones 'The Number Ones'

The Number Ones (AKA THE #1s) will take you to power pop heaven with their razor sharp 10 track self titled debut album.

They are a Dublin based four-piece featuring members of Cian Nugent and The Cosmos (Matador / No Quarter), Cheap Freaks (Big Neck), Strong Boys (Milk Run), and The Pacifics (Bachelor). Even though they are based in Dublin, they sound like a classic Good Vibrations band from 1979. The Number Ones have energy, passion and tunes so good, it makes you think you've heard them already.

Each track is a golden nugget of power pop fun that never outlasts it's welcome as every track is under three minutes. Although this sort of music seems to have been done a million times before, it sounds fresh in the hands of The Number Ones.

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Review from CVLT Nation: ‘After last year’s excellent “Procession” EP, an EP that showcased the Flowers’ talent for combining the tradition of anarcho/peace punk with a postpunk sensibility, the new “Weaver” LP continues in much the same vein. The first side kicks off with the energetic track “Magdalene” and the pace doesn’t let up too much from there, culminating in the barnstorming track “Anamnesis,” which employs a riff that reminds me of a Rudimentary Peni track (specifically, “The Evil Clergyman” off RP’s “Cacophony“).

But it’s Side 2 that contains my favorite tracks off this new release. The second side kicks off with the memorable track “Byzantine”; guitarist Stan Wright lays down a chunky, Killing Joke-esque riff (think of that band’s song “Tension” mixed with “The Wait”), complemented by frontwoman Alex’s vocals, which recall the classic goth-punk of bands like Rubella Ballet and Lost Cherrees. The following title track, “Weaver,” is another winner – just a great mid-tempo punk rocker that, in true Arctic Flowers fashion, blurs the boundaries between classic punk, postpunk, and early gothic rock.

That’s the genius of Arctic Flowers, though, on full display in this new offering: their ability to recombine and synthesize, in new and interesting ways, the traditions of gothic rock and anarcho-punk into a novel, fresh whole. Stan’s nimble guitar is pushed to the fore in the mix of most songs. The rhythm section isn’t far behind, though: Cliff’s drums cover a wide expanse of tempos, from the slower gothic dirge of “Dirges Dwell” (which features a Joy Division-esque bass and guitar opening, harkening back to “Dead Souls”) to the uptempo barnstormer that is Side 1′s late track, “Anamnesis.” Bassist Lee’s work centers the band’s arrangements perfectly, like the lodestar around which one orients a compass.

As always, Arctic Flowers’ playing is smart, thoughtful, passionate, centered, and succinct. It is at turns intricate and blunt, subtle and heavy. The long-running DIY background of the band’s members imparts to the songs an urgency one is not likely to find in the more disingenuous bands trying to hop on the recent goth-punk bandwagon.

When they're not busy with their other projects (the Steve Adamyk Band, Crusades, the Ottawa Explosion festival, Bruised Tongue Records, etc.), four dudes in Ottawa make harsh, noisy hardcore under the name Pregnancy Scares.

The EP blasts through four songs in six minutes, and shows that the band are capable of evolving their sound without sacrificing any of the raw aggression that they're known for. "Master Race" will induce a circle pit, while "The Bait" plods along angrily.

"Graveyard" is a feedback drenched hardcore song with a killer breakdown, while "Lobotomy" closes the record out with some white noise.

The return and final offering from California’s STOIC VIOLENCE comes in the form of 8 new songs pressed on the always great 12” 45rpm format, housed in a gatefold jacket featuring some sick art from LA artist Austin Delgadilo. Stoic Violence plays a stripped down, primitive, and spite fueled style of hardcore/punk. Split release with Video Disease.

THE MEN's self-released debut album originally limited to 500 copies now remastered and available on CD format for the first time. 8 songs of desperate, fuzzed out, riff laden punk/post-punk. This release really is an excellent mash of shoegaze and drony soundscapes with buried vocals beneath it all. Dreamy at times, with that Sonic Youth vibe.